Show Boat (1936)

Musicals and Comedies can be the most subversive of the film genres. They set the audience up for good fun, and under that cover can deliver some very telling and biting social commentary.

Show Boat (1936) is such a musical. The film is remarkable for the voice and the songs of Paul Robeson, with 'Old Man River' being perhaps the most moving musical number in all of film history. While Robeson himself was deeply embroiled in the politics of race, it is not Robeson's appearance alone that makes this a very political film.

The storyline highlights the realities of segregation, the injustice of forbidding inter-race marriage, the foolishness of being suspicious about white people who want to mix with blacks, and even how distasteful 'black face' stage routines are.

It could be argued that much of what happens in this film is only a reflection of how things were.  But there is no doubting that the way this action is framed within the film exposes the sympathies of the filmmaker. Watching Irene Dunne's 'black face' performance from the cheap (black) seats, seeing Julie's descent into alcoholism after being kicked off the show boat for being black, and seeing an unsympathetic character's (Magnolia's mother) distaste and alarm at her daughter mixing with the blacks... all these key elements of the film frame the story in a  way that undoubtedly sympathises with the plight of African-americans.

A film that was ahead of its time, that was highly political, and that captures some of the greatest moments in cinema... like Robeson's songs, all while being a box office success. One of the greatest ever musicals.

What are your thoughts?